The theme of this year's Sitka Symposium is "Radical Imagining." It's an appropriate message for the symposium, which returns after a five-year absence. Since 1984, the symposium has earned a reputation as one of the best literary programs in Alaska.

The Juneau Arts & Humanities Council has announced the selection of the recipients for the Seventh Annual Mayor's Awards for the Arts, to be presented at the Sunday Wearable Arts Extravaganza on Feb. 9 at 3 p.m., at Centennial Hall.

"We're here, we're queer and we'd like to say hello." That's the phrase from a 1990s pamphlet from an LGBTQ activist group, but many in Juneau's community are still timidly waiting in 2013 for the right time to say hi.